Legislators Step Up Push for Paid Sick Leave

Tough Flu Season Amplifies Calls for Mandating Illness Benefit; Critics Say Such a Requirement Would Hurt Business

By

Melanie Trottman

Feb. 22, 2013 7:06 p.m. ET

Amid the worst flu season in recent years, lawmakers in at least a half-dozen cities and states are intensifying a push for laws requiring paid time off when workers take sick days.

Some 39% of private-sector workers aren't entitled to paid time off when they fall ill, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 11% of state and local government workers lack the benefit. Low-wage and part-time workers, particularly those at small...